Electrochemical device with adjustable-area electrodes using a hydrogen peroxide catholyte
First Claim
1. A fuel cell comprising:
- an anode compartment, a cathode compartment, a membrane disposed between said anode and said cathode compartments said membrane being capable of passing positive charge from said anode compartment to said cathode compartment, an anode disposed within said anode compartment having an anode surface area AA, a cathode disposed within said cathode compartment having a cathode surface area AC, wherein AA is in electrical communication with AC and there being an electrode area ratio (EAR) equal to AC/AA, an electron source for providing electrons disposed within said anode compartment in electrical communication with said anode and an aqueous peroxide catholyte solution in said cathode compartment in contact with AC, wherein the AC and AA are selected such that EAR≦
JEC/JTOS, where JEC is the anode electron current provided by said electron source and JTOS is the diffusion limited electron current density for oxygen in said peroxide catholyte solution saturated with oxygen.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Provided is an electrochemical device having an electron source and a hydrogen peroxide solution for reaction to accept the electrons, the device with an anode compartment and a cathode compartment, including (a) a cathode electrode having an area, which can be adjustable, in contact with the cathode compartment of AC; and (b) an anode electrode having an area, which can be adjustable, in contact with the anode compartment of AA, wherein either the cathode or anode electrode area or both are adjustable, such that AC/AA=EAR is adjustable, and wherein, where jEC is the anode current provided by the electron carrier, and jTOS is a diffusion-limited current density for a reaction by oxygen in an oxygen saturated said hydrogen peroxide solution, EAR is selected such that either
(a) EAR≦jEC/jOS, or
(b) jEC/EAR approaches the value of jTOS.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A fuel cell comprising:
- an anode compartment, a cathode compartment, a membrane disposed between said anode and said cathode compartments said membrane being capable of passing positive charge from said anode compartment to said cathode compartment, an anode disposed within said anode compartment having an anode surface area AA, a cathode disposed within said cathode compartment having a cathode surface area AC, wherein AA is in electrical communication with AC and there being an electrode area ratio (EAR) equal to AC/AA, an electron source for providing electrons disposed within said anode compartment in electrical communication with said anode and an aqueous peroxide catholyte solution in said cathode compartment in contact with AC, wherein the AC and AA are selected such that EAR≦
JEC/JTOS, where JEC is the anode electron current provided by said electron source and JTOS is the diffusion limited electron current density for oxygen in said peroxide catholyte solution saturated with oxygen. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
- an anode compartment, a cathode compartment, a membrane disposed between said anode and said cathode compartments said membrane being capable of passing positive charge from said anode compartment to said cathode compartment, an anode disposed within said anode compartment having an anode surface area AA, a cathode disposed within said cathode compartment having a cathode surface area AC, wherein AA is in electrical communication with AC and there being an electrode area ratio (EAR) equal to AC/AA, an electron source for providing electrons disposed within said anode compartment in electrical communication with said anode and an aqueous peroxide catholyte solution in said cathode compartment in contact with AC, wherein the AC and AA are selected such that EAR≦
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14. A fuel cell comprising:
- an anode compartment, a cathode compartment, a membrane disposed between said anode and said cathode compartments said membrane being capable of passing positive charge from said anode compartment to said cathode compartment, an anode disposed within said anode compartment having an anode surface area AA, a cathode disposed within said cathode compartment having a cathode surface area AC, wherein AA is in electrical communication with AC and there being an electrode area ratio (EAR) equal to AC/AA and wherein EAR≦
2.5, an electron source for providing electrons disposed within said anode compartment in electrical communication with said anode and an aqueous peroxide catholyte solution in said cathode compartment in contact with AC. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
- an anode compartment, a cathode compartment, a membrane disposed between said anode and said cathode compartments said membrane being capable of passing positive charge from said anode compartment to said cathode compartment, an anode disposed within said anode compartment having an anode surface area AA, a cathode disposed within said cathode compartment having a cathode surface area AC, wherein AA is in electrical communication with AC and there being an electrode area ratio (EAR) equal to AC/AA and wherein EAR≦
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26. A method of adjusting electrical current flow by varying a surface area of one or more electrodes of a fuel cell comprising:
- an anode compartment, a cathode compartment, a membrane disposed between said anode and said cathode compartments said membrane being capable of passing positive charge from said anode compartment to said cathode compartment, an anode disposed within said anode compartment having an anode surface area AA, a cathode disposed within said cathode compartment having a cathode surface area AC, wherein AA is in electrical communication with AC and there being an electrode area ratio (EAR) equal to AC/AA, an electron source for providing electrons disposed within said anode compartment in electrical communication with said anode and an aqueous peroxide catholyte solution in said cathode compartment in contact with AC, the method comprising
changing the EAR by selectively connecting said anode and said cathode electrodes, thereby affecting current flow. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
- an anode compartment, a cathode compartment, a membrane disposed between said anode and said cathode compartments said membrane being capable of passing positive charge from said anode compartment to said cathode compartment, an anode disposed within said anode compartment having an anode surface area AA, a cathode disposed within said cathode compartment having a cathode surface area AC, wherein AA is in electrical communication with AC and there being an electrode area ratio (EAR) equal to AC/AA, an electron source for providing electrons disposed within said anode compartment in electrical communication with said anode and an aqueous peroxide catholyte solution in said cathode compartment in contact with AC, the method comprising
Specification